The Hook Strategy

Classroom example

What research backs up a hook?

What is a hook?

If I were teaching a 6th or 7th grade class and we were planning on discussing "The Odyssey" I could show this video to pique their interest. As a previewing question, I would ask my students to take notice on how the women made the men react. I would ask them about the song that they were singing, and what they think that it meant. Throughout the class we can discuss the characters of the sirens within the context of the story "The Odyssey". What role did they play in the story, and how do the "sirens" in O Brother, Where Art Thou mirror their characters? What is similar and what are some differences in their portrayal? Showing the video would be a nice transition for the students so that they could better understand the concepts of the sirens after watching a more concrete example.

The Hook strategy would be an effective strategy because it inspires a student's intrinsic interest. Intrinsic interest means that someone has an innate interest with something in particular. By approaching the lesson with something that will cause the student to find it intrinsically interesting will help them to associate value with the information that they are learning. This in tern will help the student solidify the information within their long-term memory, and will allow them a way to better retrieve the information.

The “Hook” strategy is a method used by teachers to grab the student’s attention for a lead into to their lesson, or for a lead in to their day. This could be done by showing the class a short video clip, giving them a riddle, reading a poem, showing a picture to them, or reading a section of a story.